On Monday, Ashland police reported they were looking for a man who had posted pro-Nazi, white nationalist fliers around the city the previous night or earlier that morning.

Despite their offensive imagery, said Ashland Police Chief Tighe O'Meara, the signs did little more than cause a stir.

"People just took the signs down and threw them away," the chief said.

Still, investigators were keen to find whoever was posting them and identified the man as using the handle @NationalistAct on Twitter. The account appeared to be suspended as of Wednesday morning when police announced the arrest.

Justin Anthony Marbury, a 28-year-old Medford resident, was taken into custody by police on five counts of criminal mischief, police said, though they emphasized that it wasn't the content of the posters, which contained swastikas and other Nazi imagery, that brought him under scrutiny.

"The police department would like to make it clear that Marbury was arrested for defacing others' property with the flyers, not directly for what the flyers contained," the department said in a statement. "However, the police department also recognizes the particular incendiary nature of the flyers made this situation more alarming and concerning to the department and members of the community than a more innocuous flyer would have.

"While hate speech is protected under the United States and Oregon constitution," police continued, "the Ashland Police Department will do everything it can to ensure all members of the community feel as safe as possible from perceived threats to safety."